In human anatomy, the spine is a generally flexible column that may take tensile and compressive loads. The spine also allows bending motion and provides a place of attachment for tendons, muscles and ligaments. Generally, the spine is divided into four sections: the cervical spine, the thoracic or dorsal spine, the lumbar spine, and the pelvic spine. The pelvic spine generally includes the sacrum and the coccyx. The sections of the spine are made up of individual bones called vertebrae. Also, the vertebrae are separated by intervertebral discs, which are situated between adjacent vertebrae.
Misalignment of the spine may cause serious, sometimes crippling, problems, reducing quality of life for a patient. In particular, genetic defects and spinal injury may lead to scoliosis of the spine. Such a condition may lead to further injury such as disc or facet joint degeneration. As a result, if the deformity is not initially crippling, it may become so over time. To correct such deformity, surgery is typically used.
However, such surgeries tend to utilize large incisions and extensive tissue retraction. In many typical surgeries, muscle and ligament tissues are retracted or are surgically detached during the surgery and reattached afterward. As a result, such surgeries lead to long recovery time, patient discomfort, an increased risk of infection, and high expense.
As such, an improved apparatus and method for performing spinal surgeries would be desirable.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.